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Do you mutipurpose any of your gear when traveling/touring?

mpgandfun

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After a day on the road comes to an end, sometimes I pass the time looking at my stuff and ask the question: "What else could I use this for?".
Everything I can dual-purpose keeps me from packing more unnecessary weight. As I posted in another thread, my shampoo lets me clean up & also serves as a lube (with a little water) for tire removal and leak check solution after the tire is back on.

With a little help from the sun, my 45L black dry bag can be used to heat some water up for a lukewarm shower.

Have anything you put to multiple uses?
 
One decent knife can do lots of things. a platapus water bag can be used for drinking, heating the water in the sun for a shower, and a pillow.
 
Sticking your dirty underwear into a t-shirt and using it as a pillow is NOT recommended :D
Mike

Beats the heck out of doing it the other way around, though.

If I'm going into a store after just a few items I sometimes use my helmet as a shopping basket.
 
Hey MPG - that strikes a bell with me - not just in biking, but there's nothing more rewarding than finding things you can utilise for more than one job. On a macro scale it is of course the NC700X which for me is a brilliant bike for the twisties but with a bit of thought makes a dream one-up tourer.
On a micro scale - I have discovered that a small bottle of Muc-off visor cleaner fits perfectly in the Ram mount I sometimes use for my handlebar mounted camera - helps justfy the ridiculous amount of money that RAM want for their mounts ;)
Mike
 
Now that I think about it I have used something on the bike for something else. Maybe not a real mutipurpose use but here it is.

I rode up to the in-laws a several months back. It's an 8 hour trip to Illinois. The wife was already there and I was only going up for the weekend. When I arrived I chose to remove the trunk form the bike and carry it in the house like a suitcase instead of just unpacking it. I could see myself doing the same thing at a hotel. It was kind of nice being able to do that and it has a big ole handle to carry it anyway.
 
Now that I think about it I have used something on the bike for something else. Maybe not a real mutipurpose use but here it is.

I rode up to the in-laws a several months back. It's an 8 hour trip to Illinois. The wife was already there and I was only going up for the weekend. When I arrived I chose to remove the trunk form the bike and carry it in the house like a suitcase instead of just unpacking it. I could see myself doing the same thing at a hotel. It was kind of nice being able to do that and it has a big ole handle to carry it anyway.

I've yet to get my hard luggage (June is my tentative date) but that is a feature my father is horribly envious of from his goldwing where the luggage doesn't come off.
I've plans for getting some rope to use my luggage as a bear bag (hang it from a tree with your food in it so bears can't get to it) depending on it's weight (and maybe the girth of surrounding trees...) instead of having to carry a dry bag for that.


When I was camping last year I used my motorcycle jacket and pants to "line" the hammock, and keep me a bit warmer at night. The hammock setup itself is multi-purpose (tarp can work for cooking under or to block the wind on a cool day, or sun on a hot day, hammock is both a comfortable chair and a bed)

I haven't tried to hold a steel water bottle against the exhaust to get warm/hot water (for cooking or what have you) but the thought has occurred to me as a stove alternative (how exactly to keep the water bottle there despite the heat has been a thought that's been bouncing around, thinking a metal bicycle water bottle cage might be able to mount near a hot location on the bike)


when camping off of the motorcycle I've used the hammock as a sail on the canoe (easier than paddling), clothing for a pillow (never as comfortable as you think it is going to be), and a knife to split wood (there are videos on youtube for this, it's a neat trick)

My machete has a saw back so that one is dual purpose by design... weighs less then a hatchet, but isn't as good for splitting logs.

My multi-tool is often used while camping for moving hot pots off the stove though any pliers could work there. Means my pots don't need handles which makes them less awkward to pack.

in my search for a lightweight alcohol stove for backpacking, I got a bunch of 2 oz plastic bottles from a surplus store to hold one burns worth of alcohol, and carry one around in my fire starting kit also (white gas works better, but alcohol is less likely to burn off your eyebrows.)
 
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